Six basins drilled the United States.

Where the wells are. What rock they target. When they were drilled. Each basin links to its full dark-data walk. Click any basin on the map to inspect.

Basins

1.92M

Wells mapped

89.1%

Dark measured

165

Years since Drake

The basins sorted by dark percentage

The thesis the series writes: geology shapes the drilling era; the drilling era shapes the data architecture; the data architecture decides what the public can see. Six basins is enough to make the chain visible.

Sources

USGS ScienceBase Assessment Unit polygons (Williston, Anadarko, Eagle Ford). EIA Tight Oil + Shale Plays Lower 48 Dec 2021 (Appalachia). State county dissolves (Kansas, Permian). EIA Drilling Productivity Report monthly time series. US Census TIGER 2024 5m state outlines. Methodology and code: darkdata-repo.

Analysis: @salamituns · deck.gl + maplibre · April 2026